Q1 2017 investment demonstrated a growing confidence in Northern tech businesses from both local, national and international investor groups. With more than £165m invested, Q1 was among the Northern tech sector’s most successful single quarters in recent years. The most notable investment was the £83m raised by Atom Bank. Based in Durham, Atom is the UK's first mobile only bank. It is leading the way in disrupting a sector long dominated by large, well established players who’s size and traditional structures can sometimes make it difficult to keep pace with technological change. Beyond Atom Bank’s fundraising, the remaining £83m invested in Northern tech businesses is more than the last two quarters of 2016 combined. M&A activity in Q1 2017 was also markedly higher, with 32 transactions, more than double both Q3 and Q4 2016.
<p>Northern Tech
Investment
Q1 2017
March 2017
41
£165.7m
32
Growth
Total value
Completed
investments
of growth
acquisitions
investments
Q1 2017 investment demonstrated a growing confidence in Northern tech businesses from both local, national
and international investor groups. With more than £165m invested, Q1 was among the Northern tech sector’s
most successful single quarters in recent years. The most notable investment was the £83m raised by Atom Bank.
Based in Durham, Atom is the UK's first mobile only bank. It is leading the way in disrupting a sector long
dominated by large, well established players who’s size and traditional structures can sometimes make it difficult
to keep pace with technological change. Beyond Atom Bank’s fundraising, the remaining £83m invested in
Northern tech businesses is more than the last two quarters of 2016 combined. M&A activity in Q1 2017 was also
markedly higher, with 32 transactions, more than double both Q3 and Q4 2016.
At the close of March, Tech North debuted the Northern Tech 100, a ranked list of the fastest growing tech
companies in the region. At the top of the list is Wakefield based The Car Buying Group, a non-traditional service
utilising technology to make its mark in the second hand car marketplace; they grew at a rapid rate of 191% over
the past year, emphasising the impact e-commerce is having on traditional retail. Some of the businesses in this
Q1 Investment and M&A newsletter also featured in the ranks, such as Tyres on the Drive, The Floow, and
UKFast. Businesses developing enterprise software made up the largest share, with 35 making the top 100, but
the diversity of the region’s tech scene still showed through, with many companies operating in younger and more
niche sub-sectors such as IoT, AI and VR also gaining recognition.
Also released in Q1, Tech City UK published its 2017 report on the state of the digital nation. It further highlighted
that the North is quickly building itself up as a vitally important digital hub and inno